Supreme Court Battle: This Is Going To Be Messy

See:

Gary Fineout, Marc Caputo and Matt Dixon.  "Florida Republicans: Nominating Lagoa could clinch state for Trump.  Politico, Sept. 20, 2020.

Dan McLaughlin  "Why There Has Never Been a Supreme Court Justice Confirmed in the Fall of a Presidential Election Year." National Review, Sept. 21, 2020.

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
September 24, 2020

Every Single Time”: Far Left Attacks on Nominees Have Not Changed in 45 Years

‘Every time in 45 years that a Republican president has nominated someone to the Supreme Court, the exact same set of clichéd horror stories are wheeled out of storage, dusted off, and paraded past the American people.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the Supreme Court vacancy:

“President Trump has stated he will announce his nominee to the Supreme Court the day after tomorrow.

“We do not yet know which legal all-star from his list he will nominate.

“But strangely enough, we already do know exactly what the far left will start shouting the instant she or he is introduced.

“Isn’t that a little curious, when you stop to think about it?

“A confirmation process is ostensibly about the qualifications and credentials of the nominee.

“So why is it that practically any citizen could sit down at their kitchen table right now, days before the nomination, and write down in advance the list of ludicrous accusations the far left is guaranteed to be screaming by Saturday night?

“It’s because year after year, decade after decade, the far left’s playbook stays exactly the same.

“To them, the nominee makes no difference. Every time in 45 years that a Republican president has nominated someone to the Supreme Court, the exact same set of clichéd horror stories are wheeled out of storage, dusted off, and paraded past the American people.

“In 1975, President Gerald Ford put forward a nominee whom the left blasted for his, quote, ‘consistent opposition to women’s rights’ and, quote, ‘an extraordinary lack of sensitivity to the problems women face.’

“Who was this far-right ideologue who was going to turn back the clock? Why, the late Justice John Paul Stevens, who went on to lead the Court’s liberal wing for decades

“In 1987, it was time for an encore performance. A nominee from President Reagan was absolutely savaged by liberal groups. The president of one left-wing group insisted he was a ‘sexist’ and ‘a disaster for women.’

“That would be Justice Anthony Kennedy. Once again, the sky did not fall.

“In fact, when Justice Kennedy retired in 2018, the new head of the exact same liberal organization stated they were ‘saddened and alarmed by [his] retirement.’

“The exact same liberal outfit said the sky was falling in the 1980s because Justice Kennedy had been nominated and that the sky was falling in 2018 because he was retiring.

“In 1990, they got the band back together yet again. This time, the sky was falling for sure.

“President Bush had picked someone whose record was ‘very troubling’...

“Whose jurisprudence would surely, quote, ‘threaten to undo the advances made by women, minorities, dissenters, and other disadvantaged groups’...

“Whose confirmation would mean, quote, ‘ending freedom for women in this country.’

“Talk about wearing out the volume knob.

“Oh, that was future Justice David Souter, by the way. One slogan simply said ‘Stop Souter Or Women Will Die.’

“He, too, would go on to become a favorite Justice of many of these very same groups.

“But it has still never occurred to them to get their crystal balls checked. The same unhinged attacks pour out every time. The same absurd scare tactics. Every single time.

“These people are the left-wing version of that broadcaster who spent 20 years predicting different dates for the end of the world, raising money, and just inventing a new date every time he was wrong.

“Justice Scalia was unfit. Justice Thomas hated the rule of law. Justice Alito was ‘hostile to the rights of women.’

“It’s all one big scam directed at the American people.

“In 2005, one left-wing outfit cut a television ad that tried to link our now-Chief Justice of the United States with a violent bombing of an abortion clinic.

“How despicable can you get?

“Before this disgusting ad was pulled off the air, it said a future Justice John Roberts would, quote, ‘excuse violence against other Americans.’

“Every single time. No matter how upstanding, no matter how qualified. No matter their views, no matter their record. Every nominee gets the same insane treatment so long as the president who nominated them is not a Democrat.

“When Democratic presidents nominate people, none of this happens. When we confirmed Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, I don’t recall angry mobs stalking Senators. When we confirmed Justice Sotomayor, I don’t recall weeks of character assassination. When we confirmed Justice Kagan, I don’t recall the mainstream media declaring the death of democracy.

“For half a century, we’ve seen this double-standard. When a Democratic president makes a nomination, it’s a non-event by comparison. The coastal political class and their friends in the media allow our national life to go on like normal.

“But whenever a Republican dares to nominate someone, the same people declare it a state of emergency.

“So, sadly, we already know what reaction we will see on Saturday. Fill-in-the-blank opposition.

“Remember, in 2017, we saw literal fill-in-the-blank opposition.

“Demonstrators wanted to assemble outside the Court before they even knew who President Trump would name. So they literally brought stacks of signs that said: ‘Oppose  ___(blank)___!’ And they brought markers, so they could scribble in a name during the President’s remarks, before the TV cameras cut to them.

“In 2018, moments after the President announced now-Justice Kavanaugh, one left-wing group published a typically absurd statement declaring ‘Trump’s announcement today is a death sentence’ and, quote, ‘white patriarchal supremacists… now have free reign.’

“But the actual nominee was so irrelevant to their scam that they literally forgot to fill in the blank.

“The very first line of their press release condemned, quote, ‘Donald Trump’s nomination of XX to the Supreme Court.’

“So it’s safe to say the American people could start writing their Bingo cards now. We already know every outlandish claim and unhinged attack we’re going to hear.

“In fact, former Vice President Biden has already cut to the front of the line. Just yesterday he offered the following assessment, prior to learning who he is assessing. Quote: ‘Women’s rights as it relates to everything from medical health care is going to be gone.’

“Good luck deciphering what he’s trying to say. It sounds like more of the same old junk.

“Perhaps the nation will soon watch this man in his late 70s condescend to explain women’s healthcare to one of the brilliant women whom President Trump indicates he is considering.

“Fortunately, the far-left scam artists do not get a vote. The special interest groups’ fundraising appeals do not get a vote. The fate of this nomination will be determined by the United States Senators whom the American people elected to do this job.

“A fair hearing, a fair process, and fair vote on the actual nominee. Forget about fill-in-the-blank.”

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.
September 20, 2020

Trump campaign statement on Supreme Court vacancy 

“When there’s a Supreme Court vacancy, the President selects a nominee and the Senate provides advice and consent. That’s what the Constitution says and those are the only rules.  There has been an open seat on the Supreme Court in a presidential election year 29 times in American history, and in every single case the president has nominated a candidate. Voters elected Donald J. Trump president in 2016 and gave Republicans an expanded majority in 2018, so the people already have spoken. The President has placed two well-qualified justices on the court so far and he is about to select a third. Americans can see the names on his list of potential nominees, while Joe Biden is hiding his list of people he would consider if he were president. Biden knows that he is an empty vessel for the radical left and that’s why he’s refusing to be honest with the American people about who he would want on the court. But make no mistake about this: The President has been clear that he will nominate a woman to fill that seat and the Senate should vote to confirm her.”

- Tim Murtaugh, Trump 2020 communications director